The Red Cross has warned of a “humanitarian crisis” in the British National Health Service (NHS) as it struggles to cope with overcrowding and a lack of resources.

Teams from the medical charity were deployed at a number of hospitals in the East Midlands region of England in early January to alleviate the pressure on local hospitals.

The Red Cross helped transport patients to and from hospitals and its volunteers assisted discharged patients to prepare for recovery at home.

In a statement on Friday, Red Cross chief executive Mike Adamson said the government needed to act immediately to “stabilise” the service.

“The British Red Cross is on the front line, responding to the humanitarian crisis in our hospital and ambulance services across the country,” he said.

“We call on the UK government to allocate immediate funding to stabilise the current system and set out plans towards creating a sustainable funding settlement for the future.”

Demand at highest levels

Speaking to the BBC, Professor Keith Willett, director of acute care for NHS England, disputed the Red Cross description of the situation as a humanitarian crisis.

“On the international scale of a humanitarian crisis, I do not think the NHS is at that point,” he said. “Clearly, demand is at the highest level ever. But also our planning is probably more comprehensive than it has ever been.

“In many ways, this is a level of pressure we have not seen before and the workload that the NHS is being asked to shoulder in terms of medical treatment and personal care is very high.”

Willett went on to ask members of the public to relieve pressure off hospital services by using non-emergency helplines, local GP services and pharmacies.

Critics, however, blamed government mismanagement for the deteriorating standards of services the NHS provides.

The opposition Labour Party’s shadow-health secretary Jonathan Ashworth described the Red Cross statement as a “badge of shame” on the ruling Conservative Party.

“The Red Cross being called in to help in our hospitals is just the latest staggering example of how the NHS is now being pushed to breaking point,” Ashworth said in a statement.

“More patients are languishing on trolleys and in ambulance queues. Meanwhile, hospitals have been desperately pleading on Twitter for patients to stay away from A and E [Accident and Emergency],” he added.

“The stark reality is the NHS is facing a crisis this winter and in need of urgent help from Ministers.”

Dr Enam Haque, a GP trainer and lecturer at the University of Manchester Medical School, said the government had not responded to the rising cost of treatment and staff shortages.

“The NHS crisis, contrary to that portrayed in the media, is not due to migrants or health tourism, but due to many years of underspending by the Conservative government,” Haque said.

“There is also a crisis in the profession with doctor shortages making the NHS less sustainable.

“This has been brought about by an unfair contract being imposed on junior doctors, which puts patient safety at risk through longer and unfair working conditions.”

Haque called on the government to increase funding for the NHS and ensure better working conditions for its staff but said he feared deteriorating standards were a prelude to eventual privatisation.

“My fear, though, is that the crisis is being deliberately created in order to make the NHS fail and, therefore, allow privatisation through the back door. This will lead to health inequality and worsening health outcomes for people.”

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Protesters in King’s Lynn fight against mental health service cuts

Protesters took to the streets of King’s Lynn to voice their anger at what they described as “continuous” cutbacks to mental health services in west Norfolk.

Mental health cuts protest

A protest march against cuts to mental health services and the Fermoy Unit at the QEH took place in King's Lynn town centre. Picture: Matthew Usher.

More than 100 campaigners marched from The Walks through the town centre before finishing outside the Majestic Cinema.

Peter Smith, former parliamentary candidate for south-west Norfolk said: “We are in the fight of our lives here.”

The protest was triggered by the Fermoy Unit, an in-patient NHS facility in Lynn for mental health, which campaigners say faces an uncertain future. The unit was briefly closed to new admissions earlier this month, but reopened last week, albeit with fewer beds.

Mr Smith said: “In my lifetime we have never had to fight like this, but what is the alternative?”

But Debbie White, director of operations for Norfolk at the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, said there were now no plans to axe the Fermoy Unit.

She added: “It is right that mental health services should be valued and funded on the same level as acute health services, and it is understandable people feel passionate about the Fermoy Unit remaining open.”

Labour party activist Jo Rust insisted the issue would not disappear. She said: “They have been talking about closing it for a long time. We will fight and we will not let them do that.”

Beth Anthony, 18 of Dersingham, said: “We are here to protest against the continuous cuts to the mental health service, we think it’s unacceptable. My younger brother suffers from poor mental health and has to travel to London... That is to the detriment of my family because we have to pay for him to go down by train every single month.”